Weeks 30 & 31

How far along? 31 Weeks 

Total weight gain? Still up 23 lbs, will have another check up Week 32. Really trying to maintain a total weight gain less than 30 lbs. We will see how that goes!

Maternity Clothes? ASOS is my top #1 choice! The tops/tunics run true to your pre-pregnancy size. (Given you didn't let yourself go and blow up like a balloon - boob growth is accommodated for). I found that the pants are true to your current pregnant size. So if you measure your hips properly, use their size chart to order the proper pregnancy size. Yes this means you may order a 10/12/14. Grieve for a bit, then get over it. My next choices are The Gap/Old Navy. I have really only ordered tank tops from there and again, true to pre-pregnancy size. However, for 3rd trimester I recommend going up one size, the belly region can get tight. :-)

Stretch Marks?  The red marks are still on my butt! Good news, the red marks on my boob have vanished! Gone! Not even a slight sign that they were once even there. WHOOP!

Sleep:  Sleep has been pleasant this week. Except when she kicks my ribs. It is a weird sensation I am not use to and it wakes me up the moment it happens.

Best moment this week: Started Birth Boot Camp and almost finished painting all of the nursery! One stencil left!

Miss Anything? My cousin and alcohol. I could definitely dive into a large mojito.

Movement: She LOVES to move!! She has begun to kick under my ribs. The sensation of her tiny feet gliding under my ribs is SO. FREAKING. WEIRD. It almost takes my breath away. Plus I have heard crazy stories of ribs being dislocated and broken, so I am on pins and needles afraid she's going to give me one of those donkey kicks and there goes a rib. I have had 3 ribs fractured before and it is NOT pleasant. Since she is gliding UNDER the rib, I can't push on her foot to move it like when she hits my hip bone or pushes too hard on my side. The lack of control makes me more uneasy. 

Food cravings: Watermelon. Henry picks the best ones too. Each time before he leaves town I make sure he picks a watermelon first so I can snack on it while he is gone. :-)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Woke up to another set of contractions this week. I was sound asleep and woke up delirious from the pain. Couldn't wrap my mind around what was happening and when the fog finally cleared and I realized what was happening I was able to roll off the bed and get on all fours to ease and rock through them. 

Symptoms: 
Braxton Hicks! Yay.
Learned I am allergic to cocoa butter.
Hips hurt. Especially my right hip.
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased.
Frequent bathroom visits
Occasional swelling of my feet and hands.

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? My left hand randomly swells now with the fluctuating heat waves, so for safe measure I have moved my wedding ring to my pinkie. :-]

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house from the tornado!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: None this week really. Most was in the Labor Signs part. Talk about fun! lol

About the Board:

Inspiration was from 4th of July this week!
Fonts were free handed. 

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 

Top and skirt is from Old Navy maternity

There was no board for 30 weeks, but we did get a wonderful shot together at the wedding. <3

How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain? Still up 23 lbs, will have another check up Week 32. Really trying to maintain a total weight gain less than 30 lbs. We will see how that goes!

Maternity Clothes? ASOS is my top #1 choice! The tops/tunics run true to your pre-pregnancy size. (Given you didn't let yourself go and blow up like a balloon - boob growth is accommodated for). I found that the pants are true to your current pregnant size. So if you measure your hips properly, use their size chart to order the proper pregnancy size. Yes this means you may order a 10/12/14. Grieve for a bit, then get over it. My next choices are The Gap/Old Navy. I have really only ordered tank tops from there and again, true to pre-pregnancy size. However, for 3rd trimester I recommend going up one size, the belly region can get tight. :-)

Stretch Marks?  The red mark has officially popped up on my hiney! First my boob, now my butt!! Come on! Good news, the red marks on my boob have vanished! Gone! Not even a slight sign that they were once even there. WHOOP!

Sleep:  Sleep has been tough this week. Tough due to the fact that I have been dealing with the awful news of my cousin's murder. It's tough having pregnancy hormones. It's tough dealing with the loss of a loved one. But MURDER is on a whole different level without throwing the pregnancy hormones in the mix!

Best moment this week: I can't say this has been a good week at all. :-(

Miss Anything? My cousin. 

Movement: She LOVES to move!!

Food cravings: Coconuts and watermelon!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks! I had my first set of Braxton Hicks contractions. Talk about scary for me. I had to drive 5 hours to Houston to attend my cousin's viewing and funeral alone. Henry was in a wedding and although he could have made it back in plenty of time to still be in the wedding, he would have been an hour late to take the groomsmen photos. So off to Houston I went, alone. I cried so hard Friday night and Saturday that I triggered my first contractions! I was half-way back home when my stomach started oddly tightening. It felt like my muscles all around my stomach tightened and you could physically see my stomach raising toward my diaphragm and tightening up. There was no pain in my abdomen, but there was a shooting pain that started at the base of my ribs on either side and shot down my back. It felt like "back labor". I began talking to my sister-in-law since she had back labor to confirm it was what she felt and she confirmed it. She googled Braxton Hicks, ordered me to pull over drink water, take deep breaths and chill out. It took about 30 minutes, but they finally stopped and I drove the rest of the way home, changed quickly and headed over to the wedding in time for the reception to begin. Whew! 

Symptoms: 
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased.
Frequent bathroom visits
Occasional swelling of my feet and hands.

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? My left hand randomly swells now with the fluctuating heat waves, so for safe measure I have moved my wedding ring to my pinkie. :-]

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: None this week really. Most was in the Labor Signs part. Talk about fun! lol

About the Board:

No board this week. :-( With the funeral and murder of my cousin, I am just a wreck this week.

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 

Dress is from ASOS and the nude belt is from a boutique around our town.

Lovely friend Kristi

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is the only reliable pregnancy store I have found so far. I love all their stylish clothes for women in their 20s, plus free shipping on returns. Everything is GREATLY priced and not cheaply made. I have also recently bought a few items from Old Navy after a fellow blogger buddy stated how great their items were too. The items in the photo though are from Motherhood Maternity.

Stretch Marks?  The red mark has officially popped up on my butt! First my boob, now my butt!! Come on! I mean luckily it is perfectly placed where any bikini will cover it, but I was horrified to see it. UGH!!! The positive side, at least it isn't my belly....yet. EEK!

Sleep:  Sleep has been a bit restless this week. I have been having to stay at the in-laws house and their bed is no where near as soft as our plush pillow top california king. My left shoulder has been starting to ache. Ready to be in my own bed again. Although I do love all the wonderful home cooked dinners. hehe

Best moment this week: The "reach for the sky movement"!!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum. Going to the Caribbean on our babymoon is going to be slight torture.

Movement: Henry and I went camping this weekend for Memorial Day weekend and were laying down at night reading our baby books when Coraline decided to she wanted to have a spaz attack! The movements were on either side of my belly button taking turns raising my stomach in super quick movements. Henry saw it out of the corner of his eye, so we both sat there watching it. I had to keep from giggling because it was so bizarre! Then, all of a sudden, the left side of my stomach just slowly raised a good two inches up!! It was definitely a knee or elbow because it was bony. I started to laugh from the pure craziness and Henry was quick to tell me to stop laughing so he could keep watching her move. She continued on for a few minutes. It was crazy fun to watch! 

Food cravings: It may just be me, but I think this week is strawberries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I think I have had about 12 PB&J's this week, plus homemade strawberry shortcakes, strawberry jam, strawberries in my cheerios, etc. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: 
One day my ankles and fingers were swollen since it was SUPER HOT one day.
Nosebleeds are back, bad! I wake up and blood almost immediately starts running. Sad.
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
The "nesting" has begun with crazy cleaning and organizing.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits.
Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. Luckily, I discovered this Naturals Spot Treatment from Neutrogena and it has DRASTICALLY reduced the breakouts and their redness. You just apply it 2-3 times a day and it just pretty much dries everything up and prevents anything new from popping up. YEA BUDDY!
Heartburn has been nipped in the butt thanks to my prescription of Reglan for my paralyzed stomach, that just so happens to be a medication used with gastric reflux. Jackpot twice in a row! This pregnancy thing is a cinch. (so far)

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On - However, there was one really hot day (Texas big surprise) where my wedding ring began to get really tight so I moved it to my pinkie for the day. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Just ready to meet Coraline. I love this sweet little lady so much! I wanted a boy so badly when I first got pregnant and now, I wouldn't change having a girl for anything in this world. God definitely has everything happen for a reason. 

**NEW** About the Board:
Board inspiration came from Memorial Day! However, I could not find red chalk, so hot pink it is! Hot Pink, white and blue.
The board was done using fonts from WORD.
Chalkboard Fonts: Harrington and then the rest were free-handed.
Size was a "hot house cucumber" although it looks like a zucchini
This week Henry was out of town all week so his lovely aunt Terri volunteered to take the photo with me, so of course I had to have her jump in the photo with me. <3

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
My lovely fashion for this photo entailed a prenatal tank and prenatal jeans from Motherhood Maternity. Not my favorite store to shop at, but it's the closest one around when you can't wait for shipping.

Week 25

How far along? 25 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. I also recently found some cute ones at Old Navy online as well.

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. Been applying lotion with Vitamin E and Cocoa Butter religiously every day.

Sleep:  Sleep has been much better since the amazing body pillow as arrived. Coraline seems to be on a regular sleep pattern. She squirms like crazy before bed, then settles down for the night, then around 7 am is up and squirming and rolling around. 

Best moment this week: Poking my belly and Coraline kicking back. Exciting right? lol It was so much fun for me! Except Henry was freaking out thinking I was hurting her and I had to reassure him she has plenty of room and cushion in there - it's not like I was going to poke her eye or anything. I finally convinced him to give it a shot, but his prods were so tender. He did slightly poke around and got to feel where her body was as it went from slightly soft to extremely hard. Seeing his excitement made my heart smile.

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum. Going to the Caribbean on our babymoon is going to be slight torture.

Movement: Lots of movement! It is a lot of rolling now instead of sudden kicks/punches. 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) mostly.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: The "nesting" has begun with crazy cleaning and organizing. Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. Then there is the AWESOME gastric reflux/heartburn. Whoa buddy talk about miserable at night! Feels like I have a mini bonfire going on in my throat. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery! 

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Really getting anxious to meet Coraline. The nesting has begun and I have been cleaning like a mad-woman. But being displaced because of the tornado has made this really hard to handle and giving me anxiety. I need to be home so I can clean!!! Gah!
I have begun talking to her more and she definitely loves dancing to certain songs on the radio with lots of bass. It sounds completely odd but she already has a fun personality even though she isn't here yet - just the way she reacts to things and moves around. I literally can spend a whole evening poking my stomach and watching her kick back, or just feel her roll side-to-side, back-and-forth. Then of course the whole dancing around to music kind of thing. If I already love her this much, I don't know how I am going to handle the amplified love when she arrives. My heart just might explode from all the love. Cheesy, right?

**NEW** About the Board:
The board was done using fonts from WORD.
Chalkboard Fonts: Harrington and then the rest were free-handed.
Size was an Eggplant and then my pregnancy book said my uterus was the size of a soccer ball! Uuuh, come again???
Love the blooper??

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
My lovely fashion for this photo entailed comfy yoga paints from Victoria's Secret with the fold-over band, then the "long and lean" tank top from Target. Bow in the hair is from Aggieland Outfitters. <3

I ask my Hubby to stand there to so I can set the camera up and not cut his head off - this is how he chose to pose. HAHA Sexy! Teach him to post embarrassing photos of me. Payback.